American Chamber of Commerce ‘Doing Business with the USA’ on November 7 in ChristChurch

NEC Partner, Ada Echetebu spoke as the US Legal and Regulatory Affairs expert at the American Chamber of Commerce New Zealand’s ‘Doing Business with the USA’ event in Christchurch on November 7, 2013. Ms. Ada Echetebu spoke about the importance of Kiwi entrepreneurs investing in proper US legal counsel prior to embarking on and participating in the potentially highly-lucrative US markets. Ms. Echetebu discussed the differences between the Kiwi and US styles of doing business and in approaching legal matters, cautioning that Kiwis must avoid “doing business on a handshake and a smile” with their US counterparts. The importance of well-drafted agreements which are enforceable in the US was also emphasized. Ms. Echetebu also stated that hiring good US counsel to enforce agreements can often times avoid the pitfalls of costly litigation for which the US is known, adding that “often times Norris Echetebu Law acts as “guard dogs” for our clients– we are there to insist on performance of our Kiwi clients’ contracts and we often can get the US party to perform without having to resort to courts or arbitration.”